Obituary | A whistle in the dark

Carolyn Bryant’s was the testimony that doomed Emmett Till

The keeper of the general store in Money, Mississippi died on April 25th, aged 88

Please contact your Account Representative for licensing use on merchandise and/or resale products; fine art prints, wall dŽcor, gallery, nonprofit or museum displays.Mandatory Credit: Photo by Ed Clark/The LIFE Picture Co/REX/Shutterstock (12065832f)During his murder trial at the Tallahatchie County Courthouse, Defendant Roy Bryant (1931-1994) sits with his family, Sumner, Mississippi, September 1955. From left, Bryant, son Roy Jr, wife Carolyn, and son Lamar. Bryant was accused of killing Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American boy from Chicago who had allegedly flirted with Carolyn. The shirtless boy at the far left is the son of Bryant's co-Defendant, J W Milam.Emmett Till Murder Trial, Sumner, Mississippi, USA

May 4th 2023

Least said, soonest mended. So Carolyn Bryant initially decided when, she claimed, a black teenager was rude to her in her general store in Money, Mississippi. It was August 24th 1955, around 8pm, a slow night, hot, with locusts buzzing and her sister-in-law Juanita cooking dinner and baby-sitting in the back. A few of the boy’s cousins, locals, had come in before him; they knew the necessary “Yes Ma’am”, “No, Ma’am” and never to crowd a white customer. This black boy, though, had a northern brogue. Allegedly he touched her hand as she served him and made remarks, including “Bye, Baby!” as his friends quickly pulled him out. Then he whistled at her. This astonished her, and naturally she went to get the pistol from the car, but they’d all gone. It lasted only a couple of minutes, and she and Juanita thought it was not worth mentioning to their husbands. They would only take it badly.

This article appeared in the Obituary section of the print edition under the headline “A whistle in the dark”